Ebin "Tug" Wilson (August 1869 – December 18, 1948), sometimes spelled Eben Wilson, was an American

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

player and coach. He was a starter on the

1901 Michigan Wolverines football team The 1901 Michigan Wolverines football team was an American football team that represented the University of Michigan in the Big Ten Conference, Western Conference during the 1901 Western Conference football season. In their first year under hea ...

that outscored its opponents 550–0 and later coached football at

Wabash College Wabash College is a private liberal arts men's college located in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Founded in 1832, by a group of Dartmouth College graduates and Midwestern leaders, the institution was originally named "The Wabash Teachers Seminary an ...

and

Alma College Alma College is a Private college, private Presbyterian Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Alma, Michigan. It enrolls approximately 1,200 students and is Higher education accreditation in the United States, accre ...

Early life and playing career

Wilson was born in August 1869. He grew up in Merrill, Michigan and began his college football career playing for Michigan State Normal College—now known as

Eastern Michigan University Eastern Michigan University (EMU, EMich, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern) is a public university, public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Michigan State Normal School, it was the fourth normal ...

–at

Ypsilanti, Michigan Ypsilanti ( ), commonly shortened to Ypsi ( ), is a college town and city located on the Huron River in Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's popu ...

. During his senior year in 1898, Wilson was captain of Normal's football team. After graduating from the State Normal school, Wilson enrolled at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

as a law student. He played for the

football team as a reserve in 1899 and as the starting

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

in 1900. He was the starting

right guard In American football, a guard (G), otherwise known as an offensive guard (OG), is an offensive line player who lines up between the center and the tackles. Like other offensive line positions, guards are used primarily for blocking. Right ...

on the

that won the national championship and outscored its opponents by a combined score of 550 to 0. After the 1901 season, the ''Michigan Daily-News'' wrote of Wilson: "He has a great many qualities which combine to make a good guard, but there is one that stands out above all the rest and that is -- strength." He was also the University of Michigan's champion heavyweight wrestler and an expert boxer. At the end of the 1901 season, Wilson was selected as an All-Western player by Rhinehart.

Coaching career

After playing in the

1902 Rose Bowl Originally titled the "Tournament East–West football game", what is now known as the Rose Bowl Game was first played on January 1, 1902, at Tournament Park in Pasadena, California, starting the tradition of New Year's Day bowl games. The inaugu ...

and graduating from Michigan, Wilson became the 15th head football coach at

Crawfordsville, Indiana Crawfordsville () is a city in Montgomery County, Indiana, Montgomery County in west central Indiana, United States, west by northwest of Indianapolis. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 16,306. The c ...

. When the hiring of Wilson was announced, the college newspaper at Wabash reported:

Wabash college students believe that they have this year a coach who will do more toward strengthening the team and promoting interests of football in general than has been done in many years in the past. Coach Wilson is the man in whom we place this confidence. Through many years of experience on college elevens, he has certainly gained no mean knowledge of the find points of the game and what is more he has the ability of imparting this knowledge to the players. He states that in drilling the team he expects to follow closely the tactics which he learned in Michigan under Coach
Fielding H. Yost Fielding Harris Yost (; April 30, 1871 – August 20, 1946) was an American college football player, coach and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at: Ohio Wesleyan University, the University of Nebraska, the University ...
, and, in addition, to teach some new plays of his own invention which he is sure are winners.

After Wilson took over as coach in the fall of 1902, the Wabash team compiled a 2–4–2 record that season. In 1903, Wilson led the team to a record of 9–3, including shutout victories over

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

(5–0),

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments, with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantr ...

(46–0),

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

(51–0), and DePauw (10–0), and an 87–5 win over

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People and characters * Franklin (given name), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (surname), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (class), a member of a historic ...

. The 1903 Wabash team outscored its opponents by a combined score of 274 to 74. In the final game of the 1903 season, Wabash was beaten by Notre Dame, 34–0. His career coaching record at Wabash was 11–7–2. Wilson became the football coach at

in 1904. In addition to coaching football, Wilson was the school's physical director and instructor of physical training for men.

Family and death

Wilson was married to Grace Coy in 1897. At the time of the

1900 United States census The 1900 United States census, conducted by the Census Office on June 1, 1900, determined the resident population of the United States to be 76,212,168, an increase of 21.01% from the 62,979,766 persons enumerated during the 1890 census. It w ...

, Wilson and his wife lived in Columbia Township in

The Thumb The Thumb is a region and a peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, so named because the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Lower Peninsula is shaped like a mitten. The Thumb area is generally considered to be in the Central Michigan region, east of t ...

region of Michigan. He worked at a planing mill. In 1910, Wilson remained in Columbia with his wife. By that time, they had a son, Wayne M. Wilson. Wilson's occupation in 1910 was listed as a farmer. At the time of the

1930 United States census The 1930 United States census, conducted by the Census Bureau one month from April 1, 1930, determined the resident population of the United States to be 122,775,046, an increase of 13.7 percent over the 106,021,537 persons enumerated during t ...

, Wilson was still living in Columbia and working as a farmer. His son, Wayne M. Wilson, was living with him and working as a fireman for the Michigan Central Railroad. In 1940, Wilson was living in

Saginaw, Michigan Saginaw () is a city in Saginaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. It had a population of 44,202 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along the Saginaw River, Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township, ...

, and working as a watchman. Wilson died in 1948 at the Saginaw County Infirmary. He was 78 years old at the time of his death.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Ebin 1869 births 1948 deaths 19th-century players of American football American football centers American football guards Alma Scots football coaches Eastern Michigan Eagles football coaches Eastern Michigan Eagles football players Michigan Wolverines football players Wabash Little Giants football coaches University of Michigan Law School alumni People from Saginaw County, Michigan Coaches of American football from Michigan Players of American football from Michigan